Hemophiliac   Judges ⚖️

Hats are strangely panned left, and are very hot. Bring them closer to center and reduce their volume some. Drums really could use a lot of variation in their patterns and drum fills could help with general track interest. Balance between the parts feels pretty far off, with the orch hits being quiet and the drums being loud. I'm hearing the bass from The Decent slowed down. There's some small interpretation going on due to that, cool. Fade out ending doesn't work for me, and there's about 2 and a half minutes of silence after that. Give the listener something to follow and focus on, we can latch onto that and keep interest throughout the song. Good luck.

Louder does not always mean better. Best place to start when mixing parts is to zero everything out and pull all faders down. Pick whichever channel is most important (usually melody) and bring that up to a good volume. Then choose the second-most important part and bring that up and balance it against the first part. Continue with each part until done, balancing against each as you go.

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Welcome to the forums. Evaluation: This is awfully quiet right from the get go. Had to turn up the volume a lot. The lead could also be louder so as to let the listener direct it's focus to it (they are close to where they should be now, so it won't take much of an increase in volume to get them where they should be). Those are some lovely pads you have going on, I like how airy they are. You absolutely want to add some modulation them so that they have some movement. It could be filter sweeps, vibrato automation, volume automation...something to keep them moving and less static. The biggest issue is the arrangement, it's pretty much the same as the original source. You're going to want to inject some of your own creative twists and turns into it to make it your own. Especially if you're planning on submitting to OCR. The ending leaves something to be desired and just...suddenly ends. Definitely could have something there that would give the listener a feeling of completion or finality. You can definitely use this as a starting off point to develop into something greater. Good luck.

I did notice the very subtle changes, but that's what they are subtle. Over a long period of time, subtlety can be good when there are other big changes and variation to accompany the subtlety too. Think about it this way. If it sounds subtle to you it's probably not noticed by the listener, and probably need to exaggerate some. Be intentional with your decisions. Good luck.

This is really cool! Good job doing a modern version of "theme and variations". The stand-out to me is how you managed to keep it moving with subtle variation and changes.

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Ok, I think you went too far in the other direction now. Though, that is a good thing! You got the low end much much cleaner. I can't tell exactly what you did to clean it up, but I think you should bring back some of that low end to the bass and kick so that it helps the track stay beefy (Not as much as the previous version though). I'm glad you went as far as you did because now you know how far both extremes are. Sometimes you gotta push it to find out where the right spot is! I think that the cleaning up you did make the lead (the FM rhodes/bell-type sound) in the first half feel louder than it is, or they just are louder than before...either way they seem louder than they should be now. Still clipping at 0:59. Also at 0:34 there's a tiny little blip on the left side that sounds clipping-like or maybe an artifact of something. Major props again for not giving up on this and continuing to refine it.

With regards to source usage, i'm barely picking up on the original in here. I suppose the piano melody is inspired by the source melody, but it's barely recognizable as such. I'd suggest to make the source more dominant and recognizable especially if you're considering submitting to OCR. If you haven't done so already, check out https://ocremix.org/info/Submission_Standards_and_Instructions Under 4 it says: As far as production goes, there are a few things I noticed that should be addressed. The hats are cymbals are mixed louder than the rest of the drum kit, and the snare and the kick are more buried. The bass is also very quiet and should be brought up. If you haven't done so, a compressor could do wonders to make the bass come through. The piano and drums could use humanization to make them feel more realistic. Vary the velocities of the notes so they aren't as close to the same as the ones immediately before and after them. Also nudge their start times forward and back just slightly off the gridlines (humans aren't perfect on every note!) The other issue I have is a compositional one. This is a long track that doesn't really go anywhere. You could cut 3-4 minutes off of the track and still have the same feeling achieved as it is now. The drum pattern hardly changes up, and there's no drum fills to keep interest or move the flow along. You do a good job of changing where the lead focus should be (going from piano to synth), but that still took a long while to get to that (almost 2:30 before it happens). If you want to keep the length of the track I suggest adding a contrasting section where the drums drop out or change their pattern to be more minimal. Instead of dropping things out for a section you could instead go for a higher energy section. Either way, it's up to you. The track just needs some contrast to keep the listener interested in what's happening with a long piece of music. Good job adding the vibrato on the synth later in the track, that's a nice human touch that does feel good. Overall there's work to be done before you send it in to OCR. Please consider what I've said before you do choose to submit.

Can you please post the source?

Your link is to a Naruto track, not Tekken 4.

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Some problems fixed, some new ones created. The centering definitely helped, and i'm not hearing the pumping anymore! I do like the new lead that starts at 0:16, but still not a huge fan of the one that it alternates with starting at 0:20. I like the new ending. It really helps wrap up the piece and doesn't just feel like "We're done" suddenly anymore. Good job. Also all new melodic embellishment that was added is great. At 0:59 the filter sweep clips or has distortion. At 0:25 there's a random cymbal-like hit panned hard left that doesn't feel like it's intentional. Accidental midi note placed into the piano roll and didn't notice it? I've definitely done that before XD Also the cymbals/hats are too loud, they are standing out quite a lot. I think they are the cause of the reason for 5k+ Hz being particularly hot in the mix. To me, 1:25-2:10 sounds way cleaner than the first time we hear the A section (0:02-0:34). I'm wondering if it's because the guitar is filling the low-end space a lot, because it's not present during 1:25-2:10. Still struggling with the bass and the kick, both sound like they are occupying the exact same space. Especially since there's a lot of sub frequencies going on between 42-98Hz. I think this range is likely a large cause of the muddiness.

DM'd on discord, thank you.

[This is an automatically generated message] I've reviewed your remix and have returned it to Work-in-Progress status, indicating that I think there are some things you still need to work on. After you work on your track and feel that it's ready for submission to OCR, please change the prefix back to Ready for Review and someone will review it again. Good luck!

I'm glad you didn't abandon this and decided to rework it with newer sounds. The challenge is getting the balance to work now. The leads are what the listener is trying to follow, the low end feels too big compared to the leads. Nice beefy drums, however they are over compressed and I'm hearing some pumping as well. Sounds like the kick and the bass might be fighting with each other. Drums may feel like that they have too much reverb, getting some reverb wash from the snare. All of those above factors are contributing to low-end muddiness, see what you can do to clean it up. I do like the call and response of the arrangement during 0:17-0:33, 0:43-0:56, and 1:56-2:09 however the panning on the leads is too wide, I'd recommend to bring them closer to center (Just try that with most everything, not just leads). It doesn't take much panning to have a positive effect on freeing up space. When you get really wide it can be disorienting unless it's very balanced. Also I'm not liking the new synth leads, they do feel basic and much older than the other parts used in the track. IIRC This was an issue the judges had previously. Nice resonant filter sweeps 0:33-0:40 and 0:58-1:13 Noticed something super subtle at 0:34 that may be clipping or some other unintended distortion coming though. Check it out and see if you can see anything there. tl;dr: clean up low end mud, sophisticate the leads, and balance the parts so leads are the focus.

Check discord for information!

Repeated notes don't have consideration to naming a chord. Having repeated notes just means that the sound of that particular spot will sound more like that one note, in this case the Bb is going to stand out much more then the other notes in the chord. In a vacuum you can call it either. What would really lead it towards having a better answer is the context of the piece and what comes before or after this. Generally you want to name a chord what it's function is supposed to be. Both of these two chord types are subdominants or predominants in function. They want to resolve to a dominant chord. Assuming this is in Bb minor (since you said Bb is the tonic), it's more likely to analyze this as C half diminished functioning as a iiø7 and then wanting to go to a dominant chord after this like F7 (V7) or Abdim7 (viiø7). Generally traditional theory doesn't really look at sixth chords in terms of function except for augmented sixth chords (which are subdominants). Here is info on augmented sixth chords, and may confuse you https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_sixth_chord Don't worry about naming chords unless it's really important to helping you understand the context of what's going on in the piece. If it sounds good, it doesn't matter what it's chord name or symbol is supposed to be. What I'm saying is don't get hung up on something that's not super important. Hopefully that doesn't confuse and helps understanding some.

Welcome! It's never a bad time to start trying to arrange music. Even just "canoodling" over other tracks is a good way to start expanding on the original.

I think I saw 3 finals turned in yesterday! We're in the home stretch and things are coming together nicely! Getting excited for this one

I really want to talk about how this track makes me feel. That's not something I usually talk about, but this seems to be the appropriate time to do so. Optimism and hopefulness. Wonder and amazement. Eyes open to the possibility of a new world or first-time experience. This is truly an ode to your son as I know you will give him everything possible within this world. I have no attachment to the source or Final Fantasy XIV at all, and the thought of all of this has brought joy and warmth to me today. Stunning, emotive, and breathtaking. Bravo.

[This is an automatically generated message] I've reviewed your remix and have returned it to Work-in-Progress status, indicating that I think there are some things you still need to work on. After you work on your track and feel that it's ready for submission to OCR, please change the prefix back to Ready for Review and someone will review it again. Good luck!

Production is very clean, dig it. Vibe is very enjoyable. I'd look at implementing some mod wheel or modulation of some kind on the synths when they play leads so they don't just stagnate after hitting their trigger. They are fine as is now, it would definitely help them go to the next level. 2:54-3:03 nice original bridge to transition back to the head. 0:55-1:04 and 3:21-3:37 both get very full and are approaching muddy. While they are brief sections, see if there's anything you could do to clean them up some. I'm guessing it's a wash of reverb on the pads that's causing it. Double check that you don't have clipping going on too, I suspect there may be some at 0:55 or it's a compression/limiter artifact. Unfortunately I'm unable to download the audio file from YouTube to check it in DAW. Arrangement is solid, production issues are minor and can be fixed. I'd like to see this with the tiny bit of clean-up and then submitted as it's very close to done IMO, for now I'm placing it back to WIP.

First thing that jumps out to me is that the FM bells got too loud now. I know you changed the bass instrument, but I'm still not quite feeling the movement come through as much as it should. Those moving lines it has do seem that they should be an important focus of the piece (especially the small bends). Watch the compression, during the final section it's feeling close to pumping which doesn't seem to be right for the overall feel of the track.

Losing much of the bass movement at 1:30, that phrase doesn't cut through as well as it should. I think the pad and the bass may be stepping on each other's toes and occupying too much of the same space. That pad is absolutely gorgeous though. The addition of the kick is also adding to the full muddiness in the low end too. The piano that comes in late in the track (4:40-5:20) should definitely come through the mix more. I do like the addition of the piano itself, it helps bring extra energy to that final climatic section. I'm also feeling like there's a lot missing in the higher frequencies in the mix, I know you occasionally have that FM bell synth come in but maybe it's not often enough? I also agree about getting more percussive variation, I know you'll get to it in time. Very lovely so far, can't wait to hear more!